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The present invention generally relates to a puffed food product and to a method of making the puffed food product. More specifically, the present invention concerns a coated puffed food product, such as popcorn, that is coated with a caramel-flavored substance or with a toffee-flavored substance, and to a method of making the coated puffed food product.
Puffed food products, such as popcorn, are a popular food for people of all ages. Puffed food products may be eaten as snacks and may be incorporated in various meal courses, such as entrees, side dishes, and desserts, for example. Various techniques are available for puffing a food product, such as heating the food product in hot oil or fat, heating the food product in a bath or current of hot air (popcorn that is prepared from corn kernels in a hot air popper, for example), and heating the food product using microwave energy.
Coatings have been developed to provide an extra level of flavor to the puffed food product beyond the flavor present in the puffed food product itself. Such flavoring techniques often take the form of a coating that is formed or placed on the puffed food product. Some techniques entail providing a coating composition in combination with the non-puffed form of the puffable food, where the puffing causes the coating composition to form a flavor coating on the puffed form of the food product. Other techniques entail applying a coating composition to the puffed form of the food product after the food product has been puffed.
Though consumers may purchase ready-made puffed food products that already include a flavor coating, many consumers want to prepare the puffed food product with the flavor coating in their own kitchens. However, with time at a premium for many families, these consumers who want to prepare coated puffed food products themselves want forms of these food products that are amenable to microwave preparation. To further simplify home preparation, these consumers likewise want a simple and easy single step approach to forming the puffed food product that includes the flavor coating of their choice.
Additionally, consumer tastes favor coated forms of puffed food products that exhibit both uniform flavor and uniform texture. Otherwise, the overall culinary experience of eating the coated puffed food product ebbs and falls as differences in the coating and differences in the coating composition are encountered. A coated food product that exhibits minimal or negligible coating thickness, and consequently minimal or negligible taste sensation, at one portion of the puffed food product, while exhibiting an excessive coating thickness, and consequently an excessive or overwhelming taste sensation at another portion of the same puffed food product, will quickly send many consumers in search for an alternative to that particular coated food product. Likewise, where achieving a coating with a particular texture on a coated food product is desired, the coated food product that exhibits a minimal or negligible amount of the particular texture, such as crunch, at one portion of the puffed food product, while exhibiting an excessive or overwhelming amount of the texture at another portion of the same puffed food product, will quickly send many consumers in search for an alternative to that particular coated food product.
While major advances have been made in the art of preparing coated puffed food products, a need yet remains for an approach that enhances the uniformity of the coating on the food product, while also enhancing the flavor uniformity and texture uniformity between different portions of the coated puffed food product. Likewise, while major advances have been made that simplify home preparation of puffable food products with applied flavor coatings, additional opportunities remain for simplified home preparation of puffed food products that include a flavor coating. The present invention addresses these consumer desires of enhancing coating uniformity, flavor uniformity, and/or texture uniformity on coated puffed food products, while also providing a simplified solution to preparation of coated puffed food products.
The present invention includes a composition, where the composition includes a puffable food component and an edible emulsion, The edible emulsion is a water-in-oil emulsion or an oil-in-water-in-oil emulsion, and the edible emulsion includes a sweetening agent. The edible emulsion is transformable into a coating on a puffed form of the puffable food component upon application of energy to the composition that is sufficient to puff the puffable food component. The present invention further includes a puffable food composition and a method of making a coated puffed food product.